"The past few days have been kind of rough, because we've been thinking about the previous game, but we're still trying to focus on getting a win at Maryland," said Rod Hall, who scored two points and handed out a pair of assists in the gut-wrenching 45-43 loss to No. 3 Miami.

After nearly a full week since Sunday's loss, Clemson [13-12, 5-8 ACC] will be back in action on Saturday with a noon tipoff in College Park.

The long trek up to Maryland [18-8, 6-7 ACC] won't be an easy one. It rarely is. Clemson is 10-52 all-time at Maryland.

And to make matters worse, the game starts at 12.

"The early game atmosphere is going to be -- every time we've had an early game atmosphere, we came out very slow," Hall said. "We've got to challenge and get each other going, and just play hard as a team."

Brad Brownell knows the home crowd will be ready to wake his team up.

"Maryland, certainly, is a terrific team at home," he said. "Probably, a lot like all of us, play much better at home than they do on the road. They draw a lot of positive energy from their crowd."

Brownell added, "It'll be an extremely hostile environment. One where, because of the way the other team plays and the strength they get from that environment, you really have to play well to overcome all the extra emotion."

Led by second-year coach Mark Turgeon, Maryland one of the biggest teams in the ACC.

Center Alex Len, a 7-footer who averages 12.4 points and 8 rebounds, is regarded as a top NBA prospect. Off the bench, forward Charles Mitchell [6-8, 260] is third among ACC freshmen with 5.8 rebounds per contest.

Plus, the Terps have three other regulars who are 6-8 or taller.

"Terrific offensive rebounding team, the best in the conference -- really, a big, strong team," Brownell said. "Physically, we've got to be ready to play and compete at a high level, especially at their place."